Friday, December 12, 2014

Final Day in Paris...Shopping, Wheel & Food - France Vacation -- Day 12

It is so hard to believe that today was our final full day here in Paris. It seems like we just got here yesterday...but at the same time it feels like we've been here for months. Do you ever get that feeling when you are on any vacation?

This morning I popped out of bed at around 7 AM. Yesterday I planned out with Michael that we'd take a few hours this morning to ourselves, go our own way and meet up for lunch. I had some shopping to do, and Michael wanted to walk through the Louvre again. This worked out perfectly. Unlike my husband, once through a museum is usually good for me. But Michael is able to go back time and time again to see some of his favorite works. I guess it's similar to how I can watch the same episodes of The Golden Girls each time they are on TV and still love them. Okay...maybe that was stretching it!

Michael headed out to the Louvre while I was doing things around the flat. I showered, got ready and made my way to the Metro. I wanted to head back up to Montmartre. When we were there last week Michael saw a painting by one of the street vendors that he really liked, so I thought I'd go back up and get that for him. When I got to the Abbesses station I came above ground to some rather blustery weather. It wasn't raining terribly hard, but it was enough that I used my umbrella. I made it to the top of Montmartre and there were only a few of the vendors there...and sadly the guy selling the painting I wanted wasn't there. I saw a few more vendors coming in so I decided to hang around and wait for a bit. I walked back down the hill to get euros from the ATM, and then back up the hill to see if any others had arrived. Well...no luck. :( So I decided to head back towards town to make another stop.

I have been wanting a mezzaluna, one of the curved knives with a handle on each end, because I've watched Nigella use one. That's a good enough reason to get one, right? HAHA. Well it's good enough for me! So before I left the flat this morning I searched for kitchen stores here in Paris. The first one that came up caught my attention because of it's reviews. E. Dehillerin is apparently a mecca for anyone who is interested in cooking. I described it to Michael as a "Restaurant supply store on steroids, but packed into a smaller space." And this truly is just that!

When I found the store, it looked a little...well unkempt from the outside. I honestly didn't even know if it was open because it looked rather dark inside. But I made my way to the door and saw people milling about so I slowly opened the door and entered into the place where all my kitchen dreams were hiding. The space was narrow, but tall, wooden shelves lined all the walls and aisles. Pots, pans, sieves, utensils and everything else imaginable hung from the ceiling. I think at one point I may have been drooling. All I could think was..."Thank God I don't live here...because I'd buy so much stuff right now." I took some pictures as I walked through the place.

I found the mezzaluna, and of course bought the biggest one I could find! And I managed to snag some of the "french wooden spoons." I've eyed them at Williams-Sonoma but couldn't stomach paying their prices. After grabbing the things I wanted I realized that there was a downstairs. I cautiously made my way down the steps and that's when I saw it...the food mill to end all food mills. This thing stood 3 feet off the ground and was SCREAMING for me to take it home. I walked by it...caressed its wooden handle, told it I loved it...and walked away.

I'm pretty sure that at that exact moment, Michael felt this weight lift off his shoulders while he was at the Louvre...not realizing that it was because I had passed by the food mill without grabbing it. LOL. But I digress.

I paid for my items and made my way back to the flat to meet my husband for lunch. I arrived about 20 minutes before him so I had time to kick my feet up after all the walking I did this morning. We settled on the Italian place down the street, where we had the yummy pizzas last week. I ordered the same thing...SURPRISE! I'm a creature of habit...I know it, and I accept it.

After lunch I told Michael we should head back up to Montmartre to see if the street vendors were there since it wasn't raining anymore. Well we made our way all the way back up there...and they weren't there! What a bust! But we meandered the streets of Montmartre before heading back towards our flat. When it came time to switch trains, Michael suggest we walk back across the Seine. So we emerged from the station at the base of Le Grande Roue de Paris. I asked Michael if he wanted to go for a ride, and he somewhat agreed. But before he knew it I was handing the lady money and we were getting into our own cab. We rode around it twice getting to see the city one final time.

Montmartre

I adore the streets in Montmartre...well in France in general!

Le Grande Roue de Paris.

Looking towards the Louvre

Looking towards the Arc de Triomphe...through Christmas mania!

Musée de l'Orangerie

Le Louvre

**sigh** I'll miss you, Paris...

After our trip up and around we decided to walk towards the Arc de Triomphe up the Champs-Élysées because they are having their Christmas time extravaganza the entire way on both sides! It was madness! We each grabbed a glass of Vin Chaud, hot mulled wine. It was so delicious! And it was a great treat on this windy day! :) We made our way up the street all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. I snapped a few pictures and we made our way back to the flat to rest a bit before heading out for dinner.

We decided that for dinner we'd go to the place that we had our final dinner at in Paris the first time we visited. It is actually where we had lunch on the first day we arrived on this trip! We decided this would be our "tradition." We have to have those, right? I think it makes traveling to the same place fun! We cleaned up, put on nice dress shirts, nice jeans and our dress shoes and headed out into the rain. We arrived at the restaurant, were seated and dined on an excellent meal. After last night's experience...this was a FIVE STAR experience. :) I did have to ask them to cook my steak a tiny bit more, but it was done in a flash and was tender, juicy and seasoned perfectly!

After our meal we walked back across the Champ de Mars and I looked at the Tour Eiffel all lit up. This trip truly has been spectacular. There have been fun times, serious times and even times where we wanted away from each other. But that happens when any couple takes a trip. But all those times are what make these trips memorable. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side for vacations...well except maybe Dughi Face. :)

Well I'd better get to bed. We have to be up early to get to the airport for our 10:30 AM flight! We leave here at 10:30 AM and get into Seattle at around noon. Too bad it isn't just an hour and a half flight! LOL Tomorrow night I plan to kind of "wrap up" our trip to France...talk about some of the highlights, and maybe things that I forgot to blog about. :) We'll see how I feel when I get home...that may have to wait until Sunday. But here's to hoping!

Well my friends, thank you SO much for taking this trip with me. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with you, and getting all the comments here and on my FaceBook page. Writing about my day never felt like "work," it felt like telling my best friend about what I did that day. So thanks for being there!

...love hearing about the last day adventures! Your photos of the kitchen store were spectacular! Hopefully you will adjust to the time change without too much trouble...just wondering if you could e-mail the artist (if you have his card) and have him send the picture for Michael. It would probably cost a fortune! I have thoroughly enjoyed your trip...looked forward every day to the news/ photos etc. safe travels!